CICO: Calories In Calories Out
If you are anything like me you’ve probably embarked on a (or many) weight loss journey(s) before only to be bombarded by a barrage of quick-fix fad diets leaving you puzzled and worse off than when you started. While vastly different and offering many solutions, the one thing that all these people won’t tell you is the simple truth.
When it comes down to it, weight loss is no more than calories in calories out (CICO).
CICO is the number of calories (food) you’re consuming each day compared to your needs for survival. Eat less than required and you lose weight, eat more and you gain weight. It’s an incredibly complex energy system that when given less energy than it needs, gets it from within (fat and muscle tissue). On the other hand, when given more than it needs, stores that energy for future emergencies (fat tissue) so you don’t fall over and perish in one day of undereating.
Early humans didn’t have a food abundance and would need to store energy reserves (fat) in times of food abundance for winter and famines. Thus, wiring to crave high-calorie items (sugar, salt, fat) and the ability to store unlimited amounts of fat.
However, due to rapid innovation in the past centuries, this is no longer a problem. We now suffer the opposite problem (obesity) which is why it’s so important to fully understand the concept of CICO and use it to your advantage, so it works FOR you, not AGAINST you.
This system of storage we’ve evolved to develop is truly a blessing as it offers an abundance of flexibility in how we approach CICO. You don’t need to eat at homeostasis (maintenance) every day. One day you may eat more and the next day naturally you’re less hungry and eat less or vice versa. Although this system if not taken carefully can promote binge eating disorder, it’s amazing for holidays, vacations, special events, and weight loss if handled correctly.
One pound of fat is 3500 calories. This means if you’re 10lbs overweight you have 35000 calories to lose. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. or if you lose some then eat some back. By understanding CICO, you know that you simply have to undereat/burn 35000 calories and that truly paints the simplicity of this all.
CICO is an incredibly powerful tool letting those on the health-conscious side enjoy special occasions without the guilt or stress of an uncontrolled surplus. When paired with exercise (primarily weightlifting), nutritional knowledge, and a balanced approach CICO is an incredibly powerful tool capable of helping you achieve your fitness and health goals with much less struggle allowing you to aim for the moon and reach the stars.
